As long as I could remember
by LumosUnicorn31
Summary: ON HAITUS. Vic and Teddy have been best friends for as long as he could remember, but one summer things begin to change between them. He just doesn't know if they're changing for the better or for the worse. A story on how Teddy and Vic eventually ended up together.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note:** So this is my first story here and hopefully it turns out well. I'm keen to write something on Rose/Scorpius as well, but that will come much later I suppose. Please review/follow/fave/anything! Constructive criticism is welcome and of course any positive feedback. It would mean the world to me and I promise I'll write more and update frequently! :)

**Disclaimer:** Everything belongs to the brilliant JK Rowling of course

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><p>I was sitting on the window seat in the lounge room of the Burrow sipping on a mug of hot chocolate, with the loud chatter of the WeasleyPotter clan in the kitchen behind me, as I watched the Weasley cousins playing out in the orchard. It seemed that James was conducting a new round of Quidditch, organizing his cousins into teams. But the one person that caught my eye was Victoire, standing in the background as she observed her younger cousins, a small smile playing on her lips.

I watched her almost hungrily as the light breeze caught in her pale golden hair sending it flying out gracefully before settling down her slender back. Her skin was drinking in the sunlight, further enhancing the silvery glow she radiated.

I shook myself out of my reverie, scolding myself for allowing those kinds of thoughts to run amok through my mind about my best friend. I don't know what had changed this summer, but all of a sudden it was like I had really noticed Vic. Sunday lunches at the Burrow were spent avoiding spending time alone with her because I was so frightened I'd do something stupid to indicate something inside of me had changed.

Sure I had always known she was pretty, being an eighth Veela and all, but it was like my mind had finally made the connection that she was a girl, and a stunningly beautiful girl at that. A beautiful girl I _was not_ related to, despite Harry raising me as a part of the Potter/Weasley family. I think it was the realization that we weren't related that really made me feel anxious around her recently. I sighed and ran a hand through my bright turquoise hair hoping no one had noticed the faint pink that had begun to creep through it which only appeared whenever I thought of Vic in that way.

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><p>I had been so caught up in staring at Victoire that I hadn't noticed her turning her head in my direction until it was too late.<p>

As her eyes locked with mine, I felt my cheeks rise with heat at being caught so blatantly staring at her. I hope she didn't notice my embarrassment, or the staring for that matter.

Too late, she was raising her eyebrows in question at my dishevelled state and I tried to look calm as I gave her, what I hoped to be, my normal grin, and gently shook my head indicating that it was nothing. I hoped I had done enough for her not to ask me about my curious behaviour later on.

She had turned back to watching her cousins and I couldn't help but sit there staring at her a little longer. I was so consumed with watching her that I didn't notice I had company.

"Ahem!"

I jumped about a mile in the air, sending my hot chocolate all over myself and the window seat as I whirled around to find Harry standing there giving me a knowing grin.

"Dad! You scared the living daylights out of me!" I squeaked, trying to bring my accelerating heart back to normal.

"Yeah I noticed," Harry laughed. "That's not the only thing I noticed though .. care to share Teddy?" he said, his eyebrows raised.

"Uh .. share what?" My heart rate was far from slowing down, and I hoped Harry bought the feigned look of confusion I was trying to adopt, though I had a feeling that he knew exactly what was going on. There was very little I could hide from my adopted father.

To my immense relief he didn't pursue the topic, instead laughing and helping me clean up the mess I had made.

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><p>Though I wasn't related by blood to the WeasleyPotter family, I felt completely at home with them, since Harry, my godfather, made sure I had some sort of family after both my parents had died in the Wizarding war when I was just a few months old. Harry knew what it was like first-hand to grow up without parents, and though I didn't blame him, I knew he blamed himself for the deaths of my parents. For as long as I could remember, Harry had been there for me from the very beginning, basically making himself my adopted father, and I could never be more grateful to him for everything he had done for me.

It was because of him that I now sat at the Burrow's dining table, surrounded by people who treated me like family, and who I knew loved me like family. James was on my left trying to grab everything within reach before everything ran out. I laughed as he slipped on his chair and almost went face first into the baked potatoes, which unfortunately didn't go unnoticed by his mother.

"James! Haven't I told you enough times, to _ask_ if you want something! You don't have to kneel on your chair grabbing everything within reach like it's all going to be gone within the next few seconds! I swear you take after your Uncle Ron too much" Ginny scolded James, with a pointed look at Ron who was oblivious to his sister's comment as he was doing exactly what James had been doing - grabbing everything within reach.

I laughed quietly to myself at this exchange, but abruptly stopped as a hand grabbed my shoulder. It was Victoire, steadying herself as she sank into the spot on my right, flashing me a brilliant smile. I attempted to look nonchalant as I smiled back at her, but inside I was panicking that she would ask me about earlier. It would do no good for our friendship if she found out I had been having none too innocent thoughts about her recently. But I needn't have worried. Sunday lunch at the Burrow was always a fiasco, with everyone talking over each other to try and be heard over the noise.

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><p>Later that evening I had been getting a glass of water in the kitchen when Victoire cornered me.<p>

"Teddy?" said a melodic voice behind me, one that I recognized instantly.

I sighed inwardly, there was no way I could escape from her now. Turning slowly I tried to appear casual to give her less to ask me about.

"Hey Vic, what's up?" I said as nonchalantly as I could, sipping on my glass of water.

"You know, you've been acting awfully strange this summer," she said just as nonchalantly back. Vic was always straight to the point, and it was times like these that I hated her for it.

"Oh have I?" I asked in an unusually high voice. I cleared my throat hoping it would go back to normal.

She was giving me a strange look and I was doing everything I could to avoid her gaze.

"Teddy, you won't even look at me. Did I do something wrong?" she asked with a frown.

"What? No!"

"Then what's up with you?"

"What do you mean? Nothing's up with me. I'm just worried about Quidditch this year that's all."

She snorted at my lame excuse.

"Really Teddy? That doesn't explain why you've been acting weird around me all summer! At first I thought it was just a one off thing but you've been doing it for weeks now!" Vic exclaimed, frustration starting to seep into her voice.

I opened my mouth to respond, quickly trying to rack my brain for a better excuse, but suddenly we were interrupted by Harry walking in saying "Teddy get ready to leave soon, Lily's fallen asleep so –", completely oblivious to the awkwardness between Vic and I, until he looked up into our faces.

"oh whoops I'll just –" he said and walked back out without finishing his sentence.

I ran a hand through my messy hair and turned back to Vic who was staring determinedly at me. At times like this I really wished she wasn't so stubborn.

"Well? Honestly Teddy did you expect me to buy that? I know it takes more than quidditch to put your wand in a knot." She was saying.

"Oh come on Vic, I'm in final year as well so I'm obviously stressed about my NEWTS coming up which means I'm going to have trouble balancing my time with study and practice and all and if you want the truth I'm just really upset that my parents aren't here to watch me graduate and will you please just drop it and try to understand?" I said in a rush, instantly feeling guilty for pulling out the "my parents are dead" card, but I was desperate for her to just drop the subject and stop prodding me otherwise I would do something stupid that I'd regret for the rest of my life. Like kiss her.

Woah where did _that_ thought come from?!

But it worked, her face visibly softened and she placed a hand on my arm and said quietly "oh Teddy I'm so sorry. I know that I really don't have any idea how you're feeling right now but I'm here to talk if you need it okay? What are best friends for right?" she said with a small smile trying to see if she could tug a smile out of me too.

Yeah _best friends_. That's all we'll ever be, I thought to myself wryly. But I pushed that out of my mind and gave her a strained smile back trying to hide the sinking feeling in my chest.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> I hope you enjoyed my first chapter! Any reviews good/bad are welcome! (not too bad hopefully)


	2. Chapter 2

I was carrying a sleeping Lily up to her room when she stirred and muttered something unintelligible into my chest. Thinking she was just muttering nonsense in her sleep I ignored her.

But when I placed her down gently on her bed there was no mistaking it when she announced loudly with her eyes still closed;

"I hope you marry Vic one day."

The shock of what she said made me snap up so fast my back cracked painfully.

"What?!" I exclaimed, perplexed that such a statement could be said so bluntly and by an 8 year old girl too.

Lily didn't respond as she kept her eyes closed and rolled over with a smirk on her face.

My younger sister could sure be cheeky and observant when she wanted to be, a trait that made everyone determined to hide their secrets from her prying ears.

I just stood there with my mouth hanging open trying to convince myself that Vic and I were just friends. And if we were just friends then we couldn't possibly end up married one day right? Lily was just being cheeky that's all. It's not like anything had happened between Vic and I to make her say that! Yet ..

What no! No "yets" because Vic and I will always remain friends unless I wanted to lose her by opening my stupid mouth. She was practically my cousin after all.

It was just a phase that's all. A really weird phase that I was going to put a stop to **now**.

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><p>I was walking back to my room when Harry's voice called me to come into his office. I walked in a little wary, my thoughts still preoccupied by Lily's statement.<p>

"Dad?" I asked, finding him sitting on the edge of his desk staring at something in his hand.

"Oh Teddy, come sit, there's something I need to give you."

Wondering what Harry could possibly need to give me, I sat down in the seat in front of him.

"But first I think we need to have a little chat about what happened at the Burrow," Harry was saying, and at the mention of the Burrow I snapped my head up.

"What?" I asked completely bewildered, racking my brains and coming up with nothing. "What happened at the Burrow?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at me and said "Oh Teddy do you think I'm blind? Did I or did I not catch you staring out the window at a young lady by the name of Victoire Weasley?"

Not knowing what to say to this I felt my face grow hotter by the second; aware that I was starting to look like a goldfish with the way my mouth was opening and closing silently.

"It's her fault!" I finally spluttered out, waving my arms about in a mad attempt to get my point across. "Coming back from France like that looking all .. goddess like and .. " I trailed off as thoughts of Vic's beautiful face came flooding into my mind rendering me speechless, which wasn't helping my case at all. So much for putting a stop to my weird phase.

Harry's eyebrows had now risen so high, they had disappeared underneath his jet black hair.

"You don't have it bad for her at all," Harry laughed.

"I don't! We're just friends!" I protested.

But Harry just clapped me on the back saying "That's what they all say Teddy. It's all just a matter of time."

I didn't know what to say to this so I just stared at his desk, determined not to meet his gaze.

"Anyway I had something to give you," his tone turning serious and I looked up to see that he looked almost .. sad.

Silently he handed over two yellowed envelopes.

Confused, I asked, "what are these?"

"They're letters. Letters from your parents." My eyes immediately turned into saucers. "Your grandmother gave them to me to give to you at the beginning of your seventh year, and well that time has come," Harry said with a shrug, a forlorn look on his face.

I didn't say anything, just stared down at the two envelopes in my hands suddenly feeling very ill.

"Dad," I started slowly. "I don't know if I want to read these."

Harry looked at me understandably, he too had never known his parents, which was why the two of us understood each other in a way no one else did.

"Teddy, you don't have to read them now," he said gently. "Hell you don't have to read them ever if you don't want to. But I just thought you should have them."

I nodded before standing up to give Harry a hug. I hadn't hugged him in a long time, and suddenly I felt like a little boy again, clinging to his father for support.

"Thanks dad, I love you," I whispered, tears starting to form in my eyes. I don't even know why I was feeling so emotional today.

"Oh Teddy, I love you too. You know you'll always be my little boy," he said, hugging me back just as tightly.

I was almost at the door when Harry spoke again.

"They'd be proud of you, you know. I know I am."

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><p>I sat on my bed, staring at the two letters Harry had given me. I wasn't sure if I wanted to read them. But they were from my <em>parents.<em> My _real_ parents. It was strange to think that I had parents other than Harry and Ginny.

A knock at my door interrupted my thoughts. I looked up to see James standing there looking slightly sheepish.

"Hey buddy, what's up?" I asked him.

James came in and sat down on my bed dejectedly.

"Al is mad at me again. I'm always making him mad but I don't mean to! Mum says it's because I tease him too much but I tease Lily too and she doesn't get half as worked up as Al! I just said he **might** be in Slytherin next year, nothing is wrong with **might**!" James cried out in a rush.

I chuckled, "James he's mad because you're pointing out something that Albus is really scared of, though he'd never admit it."

James looked thoroughly bemused.

"What's he got to be scared of? He was named after a Slytherin after all!"

"I think that's why he's so scared James. He's scared of being the first one to break the Gryffindor streak and you're just freaking him out more."

James was silent for a bit, probably mulling over what I'd just said.

Suddenly he looked up at me and said "what were you staring at those old envelope's for anyway?"

"Oh," I glanced down at the letters I'd temporarily forgotten deciding to just tell James. "They're letters from my parents."

"From mum and dad? How come I didn't get one?" he said indignantly.

A bit thrown off by this I laughed lightly.

"No James, I meant my other parents. You know, the ones that died in the war."

Immediately his face changed, eyes wide at his mistake.

"Oh," was all he said.

A moment of silence passed between us as we both stared at the envelopes.

"Well are you going to read them?" he suddenly asked.

I hesitated before saying, "I'm not sure buddy. Do you think I should?"

Getting advice from a 12 year old was always the smart thing to do.

James looked thoughtful for a moment before saying "I think you should read it with a friend. That way you won't have to do it alone!"

As James said that, a familiar voice interjected into my thoughts.

_"I'm here to talk if you need it okay? What are best friends for right?"_

Yes that was it! I'd go to Victoire and talk about it and maybe even read the letters with her. That way I could start getting rid of my weird phase and go back to being best friends with Vic. Just the way things used to be.

"You're brilliant James. Thanks for the advice buddy," I said clapping him on the back.

James looked right pleased with himself as he bounded off my bed and ran out, "anytime Teddy!"

Getting advice from a 12 year old had worked after all.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>I did say I'd update frequently! Please please please review/follow/favourite/anything. It'd be nice to know there are people out there actually enjoying this! Already working on the third chapter .. this is what holiday boredom does to you.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Two months since my last update .. you can blame writer's block and university for that. Architecture is going to kill me one day I'm telling you. Sorry for this really terrible chapter but I just needed to post something and somehow get over this block. I want to give a huge thank you to my first five followers (1anddone, Fanofspideyman, Savita, milly31200, misticangel101). Knowing that some one, somewhere likes this is enough to put a huge smile on my face. :) Also a huuuge thanks to Fanofspideyman who gave me my first review and made my entire month really.

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><p>I put it off for days.<p>

Okay it was a week.

Or two.

And judging by Vic's recent letters to me, my procrastination hadn't gone unnoticed.

_"Teddy it's been a while since we've gone into Muggle London. I'm craving a trip to the theatre! Aunt Hermione says some good "pictures" are out at the moment. Want to go tomorrow?"_

_"Sometime soon? When is sometime soon? I'm sick of being cooped up in this house all day, and I haven't seen you in days Teddy!" _

_"Teddy what have you been up to lately? You seem so busy these days. Well too busy for me at least, hmph!"_

_"I haven't seen a trace of you for two weeks now Teddy. Has something happened? Uncle Harry came by the other night and said you've barely stepped a foot out of the house. I heard him whispering to dad that he's afraid he might've upset you. Please talk to me Teddy, I'm here for you, remember?" _

Yet as the worried tone in Vic's letters became increasingly apparent, I couldn't bring myself to go see her.

Half the time I wasn't sure if I was nervous about seeing Vic or reading the letters from my parents or a bit of both. Definitely a bit of both. Either way it was a whole two weeks after my talk with Harry before I decided enough was enough. It was time to face my best friend despite any confused feelings I had for her at the moment.

So it was now, two weeks later that I finally dredged up the courage to go see my best friend. I dawdled getting dressed for a good full hour before I ran out of shirts to try on.

I had made it to the front door of the house before I decided that I should change back into my light blue shirt, which I secretly liked because it matched Vic's eyes. Gosh I'm such a pansy.

It was then rather unfortunate that as soon as I had taken my shirt off to change, Vic decided to barge her way through my bedroom door, her eyes blazing determinedly, which quickly turned into saucers when they caught sight of my bare chest.

Oh god. This so wasn't part of the plan.

There was a pregnant pause as we both stood there frozen, Vic staring at my chest and me staring at Vic, both our faces red as tomatoes.

"Well I'll just –," she said before turning around and bolting right out the door.

I stared after her with my mouth still hanging slightly open, unsure of what just happened. Vic had walked in on me changing. Which meant she saw me shirtless. I was shirtless in front of Vic. And it was awkward as hell for both of us.

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><p>I was lying on my bed staring at the ceiling, still shirtless when I heard a knock at my door.<p>

"Teddy?" I heard Harry's voice ask, laced with worry, muffled behind the door.

I groaned as the door opened.

I turned my head and saw my dad's frowning face staring back at me.

"What's wrong? Vic's downstairs waiting for you. Uh .. why aren't you wearing a shirt?" Harry said, his frown increasing in confusion.

I groaned again, covering my face with a pillow.

"She walked in on me with my shirt off," I mumbled incoherently into the pillow.

Harry chuckled lightly, trying to peel the pillow off of me but I kept a firm hold of it.

"I can't understand a word you're saying son. Now tell me why you're up here sulking and keeping the girl of your dreams waiting downstairs," Harry said in a light teasing tone.

At these words I flung the pillow from my face and burst out "She walked in on me shirtless!"

And dad's face was back to confusion.

"And that's got you in this state because ..?" he trailed off.

I didn't even know how to explain an answer to that.

"Because it was .. it was weird! She just stood there staring at me! And I was staring back at her! And there was just this huge awkwardness about the whole thing and then she just bolted straight out!" I rambled in one breath.

Harry just looked at me for a moment before bursting into laughter.

I sat bolt upright at this and watched as he clutched his stomach, shaking with laughter, less than impressed with this reaction.

"Gee thanks dad," I said sarcastically, with a roll of my eyes. "Laugh any harder why don't you."

Still laughing, he said "Sorry Teddy, it's just I thought .. well I just thought it would be a bit more serious than that," and continued to chuckle.

"This **IS** serious!" I exclaimed.

"Right."

I scowled before flinging myself back down and returning the pillow to my face.

"Teddy honestly, just put a shirt on and go downstairs and talk to her like nothing happened! I'm sure she'll be relieved if you both just forget about the awkwardness. No use getting worked up over nothing. She's your best friend isn't she?" Harry said in the voice he used when trying to make me see some sense.

"Of course she is, but that's the point! It's not meant to be awkward between best friends right? I just feel like anything even remotely "intimate", like my shirt being off, just gets us all hot and bothered," I groaned into the pillow.

Harry was chuckling again, but why I had no idea.

"Oh Teddy you really are clueless," he laughed.

Now I was the confused one.

"What? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Nothing. Just get your ass downstairs before I drag you down there myself," Harry said before getting up and leaving the room, leaving me sitting there staring after him with no clue to what he was on about.

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><p>AN: So I've been thinking of rewriting this story in third person .. not sure how comfortable I am with writing this in first person. Any thoughts on this welcome! Any feedback would be great :)<p> 


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